Clubbing together (From The Northern Echo)

Clubbing together

2:31pm Thursday 16th February 2012 in Comment

IT would have been a fairytale ending if Darlington Football Club had been able to be taken out of administration and entrusted to community ownership yesterday.

But we do not have that fairytale ending – yet.

All we can say for certain is that the Quakers have been given the kiss of life until the end of the season. They will survive at least that long and that is news worth celebrating.

Whether they continue to play next season and beyond comes down to whether enough money can be raised through the community shares scheme launched yesterday.

A target of £750,000 has been set by the end of April and that is a lot of money at a time of economic troubles.

We are aware that people are being asked to gamble on the outcome, even though protections will be in place to ensure donations are returned if phased targets are not reached.

As Darlington’s local newspaper we are proceeding along this path with caution but we have no real choice but to support the appeal. To do otherwise would see us condemn Darlington Football Club to history.

The rest of the local community – companies, organisations and individuals – have that same stark choice.

Let’s not forget that the Quakers were declared dead on January 18 before being revived with a £50,000 lifeline from the Darlington FC Rescue Group.

At the very least we still have a football club to save and that alone justifies the huge efforts behind the campaign so far.

We have an administrator in Harvey Madden who has bent over backwards to avoid liquidation and an MP in Jenny Chapman who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes and put her judgement on the line.

If everyone comes together we have the chance to put the club in the sustainable ownership of the local community so that it is no longer dependent on one wealthy owner.

It is a chance we have to try to grasp.